Bauleth Maria F, Mitonga Honore K, Pinehas Lusia N
School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia, Oshakati, Namibia; and, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Namibia, Oshakati,.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2020 Aug 24;12(1):e1-e11. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2361.
Diarrhoea remains a public health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality amongst children, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. In Namibia, the national prevalence of diarrhoea was 17%; it was responsible for 5% of all deaths in children under 5 years old and is the second leading cause of death.
The purpose of this study was to assess the epidemiology and factors associated with acute diarrhoea amongst children less than 5 years of age in Engela district in the Ohangwena region, Namibia.
The study was conducted in Ohangwena Region in Namibia which extends east to west along the borders of the southern part of Angola.
A cross-sectional study was conducted. A structured questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the socio-demographic and epidemiological data of diarrhoea and logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with the prevalence of diarrhoea.
The study found a prevalence of 23.8% for diarrhoea in the 2 weeks period preceding the survey amongst children aged under 5 years. The prevalence of diarrhoea was statistically significantly associated with children (p 0.05). The strongest predictor of the prevalence of diarrhoea was the residential area 'informal settlement', with an odds ratio of 36.42. This implies that children living in the informal settlement are 36.42 times at risk of contracting diarrhoea as compared to those living in other residential areas.
epidemiology; factors; diarrhoea; under-5 years children; Engela district; Ohangwena region; Namibia.
腹泻仍然是一个公共卫生问题，并且是儿童发病和死亡的一个重要原因，主要发生在低收入和中等收入国家。在纳米比亚，腹泻的全国患病率为17%；它导致5岁以下儿童所有死亡病例中的5%，是第二大死因。
本研究的目的是评估纳米比亚奥汉圭纳地区恩盖拉区5岁以下儿童急性腹泻的流行病学及相关因素。
该研究在纳米比亚的奥汉圭纳地区进行，该地区沿着安哥拉南部边界自东向西延伸。
开展了一项横断面研究。通过面对面访谈使用结构化问卷。描述性统计用于描述腹泻的社会人口统计学和流行病学数据，逻辑回归分析用于确定与腹泻患病率相关的因素。
研究发现，在调查前两周内，5岁以下儿童腹泻患病率为23.8%。腹泻患病率与儿童存在统计学显著关联（p<0.05）。腹泻患病率的最强预测因素是居住地区“非正式定居点”，比值比为36.42。这意味着与居住在其他居民区的儿童相比，生活在非正式定居点的儿童患腹泻的风险是其36.42倍。
流行病学；因素；腹泻；5岁以下儿童；恩盖拉区；奥汉圭纳地区；纳米比亚。
